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Local author, former NY Times bestseller, at Booky Joint Sunday

Longtime Mammoth resident Bruce Torrence has a new book out, with a book signing at the Booky Joint scheduled for this weekend.

The book, “The Hollywood Canteen Where the Greatest Generation Danced with the Most Beautiful Girls in the World,” documents Torrence’s long relationship to the world of Hollywood, and most particularly, to the history of the famous canteen that served as a source of solace and entertainment for more than 3 million soldiers who were headed into the inferno of World War II.

Torrance has lived in Mammoth full-time since 1999 after meeting his wife, Christine, here some 20 years ago. He is retired from a business career in Southern California. He has previously written a book—30 years ago, called “Hollywood The First 100 Years”— which he said “spent five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list” for historical writing. He is currently working on another book.

Torrence, 72, is the grandson of one of Hollywood’s biggest developers, with his grandfather at the helm of the Chinese Theatre and other prominent Hollywood buildings. When Torrence was a young man, he began collecting photos of the Hollywood world, and later translated his collection to digital form. That digital library is available at www.hollywoodphotographs.com.

He will be at the Booky Joint in Mammoth on Sunday, Aug. 19, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to sign his book.
For more information, contact the Booky Joint at 760-934-5023.